An insider look at the simple/organic church movement

Books

This page contains the resources that I have found useful in my personal and professional life. Admittedly, it is an eclectic list. It contains everything from quotes and books that I like to podcasts, videos, and slideshows.

If you don’t want to scroll through the entire list, you can click on one of the links below and filter the resources by specific category.

“The Day I Met Jesus by Frank Viola and Mary DeMuth is destined to be a classic. Five exquisitely imaginative stories of women from the Gospels describe lives turned upside down by an encounter with Jesus. The book reveals the beauty of our Savior—His character, His compassion, His humility, His humanity, His divinity. This gem of a book will move you, inspire you, and, quite possibly, set you free.”

It’s (relatively) easy to write a book. But to find a book backed by the hands-on experience of David and Paul Watson is rare–rare in that it is unusual to have authors so incredibly qualified to write such a work. David has seen church planting movements numbering in the tens of thousands in India, thousands in Africa and now he and Paul are seeing multiplication here in the West too. By reading Contagious Disciple Making: Leading Others on a Journey of Discovery, we can all learn from their experience. Seeing multiple generations of multiplying disciples is what many of us in the simple/organic/house church movement long for. For some time, I, personally, have believed that this is going to be the next move of the Holy Spirit in this country. In Contagious Disciple Making, David and Paul enumerate the principles involved in a clear and concise way. They don’t minimize the cost–they have paid a high price at times. And they give us proven tools that any of us can use. Let’s read and learn…

For many people,the books of Alan Hirsch have been a gateway into the world of missional thinking. Alan has been a friend for many years, but it was TheShapingofThingstoCome which he wrote with Australian missiologist and theologian, Michael Frost, that was my introduction to his writing. Alan writes with clarity and insight and is often used by God as a catalyst to cause churches to think “outside the box”–or at least outside the four walls of the building–when it comes to reaching out to the world around us.

TheForgottenWays is another of Alan’s books. It is a foundational classic that describes the six elements of missional DNA. These six elements, Hirsch believes, are essential to the creation of transformative missional movements.

My friend, Chris Jefferies, from the UK, has written an excellent and comprehensive primer/guide that sets out Alan’s teaching in The Forgotten Ways in a simple and accessible way. Entitled, Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church, it is designed for groups to use and provides many useful questions for discussion.